March 21, 2012

Privilege and silence of white "beyond evangelicals"

Encouraging things are happening within U.S. evangelicalism. No longer solely aligned with Religious Right politicians, six-day creationists, anti-gay movements, and other conservative-leaning groups, many evangelicals are questioning the status quo. We're concerned about the environment and poverty, and have moved away from a premilennial dispensationalism that disregards the now. Rather than dish out condemnation, we've learned to be more willing to extend grace.

Various labels describe these movements: emergent, missional, progressive. Frank Viola chose the name "beyond evangelical." I'm conflating several different strains here, but the general direction has been away from the evangelicalism that emerged in opposition to modernism.

While these developments are encouraging, I've noticed most progressive evangelicals are no different from their predecessors when it comes to race. The heavy-hitters in these movements are white, and the privilege that comes with being white remains even in the new evangelical streams.

What most determines what progressive evangelicals believe or what they feel worth promoting is not their faith. The dividing line is actually race.

A great illustration of this color line is the death penalty. Attorneys have meticulously researched the psychology behind jury selection. Researchers have found that "similar religious beliefs can lead to completely opposite policy preferences among respondents ofdifferent racial backgrounds." Black evangelicals are more inclined to oppose the death penalty than white evangelicals, who are more likely to support it.1

Although it's fair to say that most of these new kinds of white evangelicals have reconsidered their stance on the death penalty, to have a more consistent pro-life ethic, another illustration of the color line between white evangelicals, including the more progessive ones, and Christians of color is happening right now.

Such a color line in my timeline re: Trayvon Martin. Who do you think is tweeting about his murder, who do you think has made barely a peep?

Yes, Twitter is anecdotal and unscientific. But the radio silence from white evangelicals - even the more progressive ones - is disappointing. White evangelicals yield a lot of influence, politically, economically, and in the media, enjoying massive amounts of privilege. Invisible Children's recent "Kony 2012" campaign demonstrated that earnest, well-meaning, young evangelicals are capable of spurring world leaders to action and causing 100 million hits on a YouTube video.

But when the uproar over the murder of a black child, Trayvon Martin, goes viral, most white evangelicals are silent. Despite adhering to a religion that came from the margins, many white evangelicals' privilege keeps them silent. White evangelicals are oblivious to the invisible knapsack of privilege they carry around. Most don't have to worry if their children will be shot when returning from the corner store. Most don't even have to think about race itself.

Whiteness is neutral, the air they breathe. White evangelicals can remain oblivious to the injustices that people of color face in the U.S.

Sadly, their whiteness, rather than their faith, is what informs their thinking. Here's another take on the color line:

Blacks [...] support the death penalty less than any other major social group (about fifty-eight percent in the 1998 election survey), largely because they are keenly aware of the way in which capital sentencing values the lives of black victims and offenders less than those of their white counterparts. More white conservative Christians would be likely to appreciate this flaw at the heart of the system if they interacted more with their black brothers and sisters.

[...]

[M]any black leaders are skeptical of [white evangelicals' efforts to add black members to their churches]. In their view, such contacts have gone on for years, are largely symbolic, and have not increased white suburban evangelicals' concern about the situation of racial minorities or the needs of the inner cities. Black leaders remark that whites want to form individual friendships with blacks, but that they balk at confronting social and political issues such as inequality in the economy and racism in the criminal justice system.2

Trayvon Martin's murder is a major issue in the African-American community. It must hurt deeply to see a group as influential as white evangelicals not take initiative to spread the word, despite taking very energetic initiative recently to "make Kony famous."

White "beyond evangelicals:" if you haven't tweeted, blogged, signed a petition, or otherwise promoted the unjust circumstances surrounding Trayvon Martin's murder, I'm interested to know why. As you can tell from the absence here on my blog, I've been busy, so I understand many simply don't have time to react to every current event. But many are online all day, and many have smartphones.

I also have a broader question: do you know any people of color? If not, why not? Do you actively make efforts to read or listen to perspectives from Christians of color? If not, why not?

I'm curious about the general silence from my fellow white Christians with regard to Trayvon Martin. This silence should give us pause. Let's examine whether our whiteness is the most important factor in our lives, rather than our faith in a subversive Christ. And to white evangelicals who push against the status quo: let's keep pushing.

6 Comments

Thanks for the post... I made similar observations and comments a couple of days ago, and likewise called out those who ought to be standing alongside the black community given their theological proclamations, and nonetheless have been silent. Keep writing, I plan to be checking this site out more in the future (first time here). Here's a link to the post I wrote on the same subject http://wp.me/psxVW-fL Peace!

Natalie, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I have not noticed a similar color line in my Twitter or FB feeds. I heard about Trayvon's murder a few days after it happened and have retweeted or posted articles on the case since then. I also saw a fair number of my social media friends doing the same, although there's been increasing attention drawn to the matter this past week. However, I tend not to follow any evangelical bigwigs so their silence is disheartening, especially given how quickly people rallied around Kony 2012 without bothering to do due diligence. But beyond this, it's important to consider the evangelical divide in the Church at large. That's something I've become more aware of in recent years and yet I'm not certain what to do about it, other than continue speaking up.

Leigh, I hope that the injustice of Trayvon's death will be a wake-up call for us white evangelicals. I agree with you that continuing to speak up is important, since silence ends up as complicity when it's all said and done, but equally as important is listening. A lot of white evangelicals-and white people in general-have their voices heard quite easily, and maybe we're drowning out the perspectives of people of color.

I am glad you are saying something. I am glad to know others are, and although I don't keep up with issues via Twitter at all, or Facebook much, I try to keep up with matters of importance and have written a post on Trayvon Martin that I'd like to share with you, and I hope that is alright. http://thisismyoffering.blogspot.com/2012/05/trayvon-martin.html
Found your blog through So Much Shouting So Much Laughter, and am glad that I did.